News Roundup: January 22, 2015
The Pebble Partnership is focusing on legal battles this year, even as it searches for a new investor. Recent news includes parent company Northern Dynasty’s effort to raise funds to pay for the legal efforts, which are targeted toward the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its 404(c) process. In other mining news, Imperial Metals hopes to restart operations at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia, where a tailings storage facility failed last August.
Imperial Metals requests to partly restart Mount Polley mine (Mining.com, Jan. 18, 2015)
Imperial Metals has submitted a plan for restarting operations at its copper and gold mine near Likely, British Columbia, but the government says it will not approve the plan until it has the results of an independent investigation into the August tailings breach that shut Mount Polley mine down and ultimately discharged an estimated 2.6 billion gallons of waste water and 1.3 billion cubic yards of tailings into the watershed.
Battle-tested Pebble CEO earned his chops as Clinton Interior official (E&E Publishing, Jan. 16, 2015)
E&E Publishing features the Pebble Partnership’s new CEO Tom Collier in this piece, who is “confident that we’re going to end up with a new partner.” Among other details, the story reveals that Collier has rekindled his interest in salmon fishing, and that a Barbados-based firm now stands to control about 15 percent of Northern Dynasty’s stock.
Northern Dynasty raises funds for Pebble Mine operations, legal fight (Alaska Dispatch News, Jan. 14, 2015)
The Associated Press reports that Northern Dynasty has raised $13 million from the sale of shares. The funds are needed to help with operating costs and the company’s legal battle with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Pebble critics laud oil-gas drilling ban (North of 60 Mining News, Jan. 11, 2015)
President Obama’s ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in Bristol Bay draws praise from environmental groups and new calls for similar protections for Pebble waterways.